Is the (US) penny doomed?

[dianeduane]

The question comes up once again, as the one-cent piece now costs more to produce than it's worth.

...The U.S. Mint could lose a mint, or $43.5 million, producing the coin this year, according to at least one expert.

...The Mint is also losing a pretty penny on the nickel. The agency, which plans to produce 1.7 billion of them this year, shells out 6.4 cents for each five-cent piece. Yet, there has been far less hoo-ha over the nickel.

"There is more sentimentality associated with the penny," said Anthony Zito, 53, former president of the Massapequa Coin Club and avid penny collector. "It has a beloved president on it and has inspired a host of sayings, such as 'penny-wise and pound-foolish,' 'a penny saved is a penny earned' and 'a penny for your thoughts.' It is more ingrained in our culture than any other currency."

Well, the "pound-foolish" saying would have come from the British side of things, or at least the pre-dollar side. 

Another take on the situation from further on in the article:

Another penny advocate, Mark Weller, executive director of Americans for Common Cents, an advocacy group, argues that the elimination of the penny would hurt consumers and many charities, which rely on penny drives as part of their donation collections.

Most convenience stores would round up instead of round down, costing consumers $600 million, said Weller, citing a study by Raymond Lombra, a Penn State University economist.

Weller added that Kolbe is pushing the legislation because Arizona is a copper-producing state. The elimination of the penny would force the Mint to make more nickels, which are mostly composed of copper, he said.

"This is special interest legislation at it worst," Weller said.

...There was a lot of noise, I seem to remember, when the euro was first being structured, as to whether or not there should be a one-cent coin. I can't now recall all the justifications for the "yea" or "nay" positions. Whatever: we've got it now.

Meanwhile, it'll be interesting to see if our cent outlasts the US one...

 

 

Comments

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

This is because, unlike in Canada and other countries that have swopped over, the Mint lacked the sense to STOP PRINTING the bills when they introduced the coins.

[ckd]

Precisely why I said the $1 bill had to be phased out; until that's done, no $1 coin will get any traction in the US. (And we've shown that to be true twice now.)

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Yup. What were they THINKING?

(yeah, that's rhetorical)

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Well, they're taking another crack at it, taking a page from the successful State Quarter series. Unless the program gets cancelled: starting in '07 or '08, there'll be a series of Presidential Dollars, four a year, deceased for five years or more (no living or only-just passed former presidents, or the by-then incumbent when it finally ends). If these catch on the way the Statehood Quarters have, then the dollar coin has a shot at finally catching on.

Me, I still miss the Ike dollars. By golly, that felt like some serious money in your pocket! :)